Todos los capítulos de The Cold Compromise : Capítulo 101 - Capítulo 107

Chapter 100: The Final Play The sea air in the cockpit of the Ithaca was cold and sterile, smelling faintly of salt and high-grade diesel. The engines roared, pushed far past cruising speed, their vibrations resonating through the deck and into Luca’s chest. The only other sounds were Ethan’s ragged breathing and the soft hum of the ship’s systems struggling to keep pace with their desperate flight. Luca’s hand hovered over the satellite phone. His thumb trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the sheer weight of the decision he was about to make. Outside, the radar painted a relentless picture. A dark blip closed in from the northwest, a single, unstoppable mark of Giuseppe’s fury. Every mile they put between themselves and the Italian coast shrank under that closing vector. “We do not have time for mistakes,” Ethan said, bracing himself against the control panel. His fingers clenched the navigational charts, muscles taut with effort and pain. Every movement sent a sharp twing

Chapter 102: The Sea Battle The smugglers’ channel was a nightmare in motion. The Ithaca bucked like a wounded animal as it scraped rocks for the second time, the violent shudder tearing through the hull and straight into Ethan’s ribs. His breath hitched, sharp and painful, but he gripped the console and stayed upright. The shallow water churned beneath them, the choppy waves slamming against the hull as if trying to flip the yacht itself. Luca fought the helm with everything he had, every muscle in his arms coiled tight, sweat running down the side of his face despite the cool Mediterranean air. “Depth dropping!” Ethan hissed, his voice tight. His eyes were glued to the sonar, which was blinking red so fast it looked like a heartbeat in panic. “We have less than three feet of clearance, Luca. We need to slow down before we rip the bottom open.” “Slowing down is capture,” Luca shot back. His voice was taut, controlled, but the strain was unmistakable. “We need to hit open water be

Chapter 105: Quid Pro Quo Two days after the chaos had surged through Washington, the world felt strangely quiet. The storm had passed, but its echo still trembled through every corridor of power. The headlines kept screaming about betrayal, espionage and the fall of men who once believed themselves untouchable. For Luca, the silence that followed was the most dangerous part. It was the time when governments calculated their losses, reassessed their threats and decided who needed to disappear for the sake of national order. He knew they would come eventually. Not because they wanted revenge, but because governments hated unanswered questions. They hated loose ends even more. And he and Ethan were the last two threads that could unravel everything if pulled hard enough. But Luca did not intend to be anyone’s loose end. Instead of reaching out to Agent Hayes, who was already drowning in testimony, investigations and political crossfire, Luca turned to the only figure who existed ou

Chapter 108: Burning the Ships The sun dipped below the equator and cast a harsh glow over the western sky of São Tomé. The bright orange bled into deep violet until the horizon looked like something torn between fire and night. The world felt suspended between two colours, and for the first time in a long time, silence did not feel dangerous. Luca and Ethan stood on the deck of the Ithaca. The yacht sat still in the quiet bay, unmoving, almost peaceful. It had been prepared for its final task, a task that would remove the last trace of the lives they once lived. The sea was calm and the wind gentle. Everything looked normal. Yet both men felt the weight of the moment tighten around them. Ethan breathed in the warm air and let his gaze sweep across the empty water. A sense of peace, real peace, settled into him. It sank deep into a part of his chest that had been tight for years. “We finished the legal work,” he said. “We said goodbye to everyone who needed a goodbye. We destroyed